Clogged drain poses health hazard in Tangail town
The ‘central drain’ in Tangail municipality, now clogged with various waste materials including polythene, poses serious health hazards for the townspeople.
Stagnant water of the drain serves as a breeding ground of mosquitoes.
A three-kilometre-long canal was dug from the Louhajang river at Paradisepara to Burai Beel (a large waterbody) at Biswas Betka through Victoria Road during the British period to ease drainage of water in the town.
The municipality authorities in 1996 constructed a two-metre-wide concrete drain in two-kilometre area of the canal.
But they constructed markets (shops) over the drain at different places, making it hard to clean.
The municipality authorities arranged cleaning the drain last in 2014.
It will take Tk 40 lakh to Tk 50 lakh to clean the drain, said Mirza Arif, executive engineer of Tangail municipality.
Visiting the drain area from its mouth near the Louhajang river to Godown Bridge of Dhaka Road, this correspondent found bad odour spreading as dumping of waste into the canal continued from Park Market and different hotels and restaurants in Nirala Intersection and Old Bus Stand areas.
The drain has become a nuisance for the townspeople, said Mir Mehedi, member secretary of Nagorik Committee in Tangail.
The dirty drain causes spread of different diseases and so, the authorities should take early steps to clean it, said Shahidul Islam, a shopkeeper in Victoria Road.
Tangail municipality Mayor Jamilur Rahman Miron said steps will be taken to clean the drain as soon as possible and awareness campaign will be launched so that people do not dump waste materials into the drain.
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